


Granger's Brandied Fruit Cake

by naarna



Series: dhr advent [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Baking, Christmas Fluff, Christmas traditions, Community: dhr_advent, F/M, Family Fluff, Pregnant Hermione Granger, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, based on a prompt, fruit cake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 19:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16750429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naarna/pseuds/naarna
Summary: Baking a fruit cake for Christmas is a Granger tradition, but why did Hermione have to turn their kitchen into a mess?





	Granger's Brandied Fruit Cake

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very loose continuation of last year's submission ("Nutcrackers and Macarons"), with them now married and pregnant...
> 
> Many many thanks to the lovely _[AmaliaIR](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmaliaIR/pseuds/AmaliaIR)_ for jumping in as beta reader at such a short notice! Love you, my dear! <3
> 
> And many many thanks to the wonderful mods to be so kind and grant me a small extension to get it ready for posting. November wasn't easy when it came to writing, so thank you!
> 
> Now, enjoy! :-)

It smelled heavenly when Draco returned home from a visit to Gringotts after an urgent call from the bank about his family vaults. It had turned out to be nothing, just an accounting mistake by one of their apprentices.

Sometimes he thought that those goblins secretly enjoyed pissing him off like that, even after all those years since the War. And it was even more annoying during Christmas season, with all the people bustling through the streets on their hunt for presents; only the seemingly endless wait at the bank itself topped it, because everyone needed money from their vaults at the same time.

With a sigh, he peeled off his coat to hand it absentmindedly to the house-elf waiting next to the door with an expectant look. The laughter he heard from the kitchen immediately managed to blow the irritation about the unnecessary call from his mind, and he couldn't help but smile.

“The mother of the Mistress is in the kitchen. Mistress has asked Tibby to stay out of the kitchen because the Mistress' mother isn't used to seeing a house-elf. Tibby is here to help Mistress so that Mistress doesn't over-exert herself, and Tibby doesn't mind serving a Muggle.”

Draco shook his head in slightly exasperated amusement before he nodded and took a deep breath. “It's okay. We’ll call for you if we need your help.”

“Yes, Master.” Tibby bowed and turned around to put the coat away. “Tibby will do some cleaning instead.”

“Have you checked the box with the Christmas tree decorations yet? Mistress and I want to go looking for a tree tomorrow, and the box should be ready by then.”

“Tibby will go find the boxes and check the baubles.” The house-elf immediately moved towards the stairs to go up to the attic. Apparently, Hermione had told her not to Apparate as long her mother was here.

After one last nod, Draco moved towards the kitchen, from where he could hear more laughter. He might be part of their family now, but his parents-in-law still made him nervous, despite them being Muggles.

A Malfoy being scared of Muggles!

At the door, still out of sight, he could hear Hermione respond to something her mother just said, with both of them giggling again. They both turned towards the door as soon as he stepped inside, big, happy smiles greeting him.

However, he was shocked for a moment at the state of the kitchen—apparently, Hermione had put her mind to baking after he had left for Gringotts, and now there was flour everywhere, even her hair, he could see small pieces of dough on the counter and remains of cut dried fruits next to it.

And in the middle of it all was Hermione, with her pregnant belly protruding beneath her apron. After licking her fingers clean, she waddled over to him for a welcoming kiss. “Mum called just after you left. She was sad that she couldn't make the fruit cake this year, so I brought her over.”

He leaned down for quick kiss on her lips, getting a taste of the cake dough in the process, and the few dried fruits she had snacked in between. “So, that's why our kitchen looks like a mess...”

“Hi, Draco.” Hermione's mother waved from the table, her broken ankle propped up on a chair with a cushion. “I think the mess is my fault... I shouldn't have mentioned it. At least she is almost done with the first one–”

“First one?” Draco asked confused, following his wife further into the kitchen. His brows furrowed, he sat down on the other side of the table, just as Hermione handed him a glass of pumpkin juice.

“I'm making two, so that I can have some cake as well. You know that Mum soaks them with brandy for a couple of weeks... And you also know what Healer Talbot said about pregnancy and alcohol.”

As Hermione was standing next to him, he couldn't resist stroking over her belly. Knowing that she was carrying his child made him proud every time he thought about it. “I remember the disappointed groan you let out when she mentioned it–”

“It's no fair. Not even a glass of red wine once a week!”

“You know that _our_ doctors don't really agree about it either,” Jean said, taking a sip from her tea. “Some say it's okay to have a small amount once in a while, like a glass of red wine a week; others say that total abstinence is best. It's still a poison after all.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hermione sighed, only to smile at Draco who was still gently stroking her belly. “You know, it kicked me today. But it seems to be sleeping right now, which makes moving a little more comfortable.”

“You kicked me a lot too.” Jean chuckled, putting her cup back down. “Sometimes in the weirdest moments. But whenever your dad wanted to feel it too, you kept quiet.”

Hermione blushed at the anecdote, before she leaned down to Draco for another quick kiss. “I thought I'd make two cakes, so that we could have one later for tea, with some cheese.”

He held her hand in his, caressing her wrist with his thumb as he briefly deepened the kiss because the taste of cake on her lips was tempting. “Let me finish the work. Talbot said you should take it easy.”

She straightened herself up again with a small groan from the effort. “It's a Granger tradition, Draco.”

“You're a Malfoy now,” he replied and got to his feet. He was at the counter before she could even protest any further. He found the recipe stuck to the top cupboard door and studied it. Behind him, he could hear the two women exchange a few hushed words, until Hermione finally joined him, placing a hand on his lower back.

“You know you don't have to do this, my dear.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and placed a kiss on her head, inhaling that soothing scent of her hair—it always smelled faintly of jasmine, and he loved it. “I'd love to, though. You get to have a cup of tea with your mum, and I'll do the baking. Just don't laugh at me.”

“I promise we won't,” Hermione replied, nudging him gently before she opened her apron to hand it to him. “Mum, do you want another cup of tea?”

“Absolutely. Not going to miss watching a man taking over the kitchen,” Jean said to everyone's amusement. “My husband is useless in the kitchen, sadly enough. Can't even trust him with the dried fruits and the brandy to soak them...”

“I see... like mother like daughter.” And with a grin, Draco put on the apron before he rolled back the sleeves of his buttoned shirt while Hermione prepared the kettle on the stove. Hermione had her cunning ways from her mother, and it made him wonder once again why she hadn't been sorted into Slytherin.

 

A good hour later, the first loaf of fruit cake was finished baking, while the second still had at least another half hour to go in the oven. The kitchen smelled heavenly of roasted nuts, spices, and the dried fruits.

It smelled like Christmas.

With a smile, Draco cast the Cooling Charm his wife had taught him earlier in their relationship on the loaf of fruit cake; it was still steaming, having been taken from the oven mere moments ago. He cut it in half, so that one of them could be soaked with some of the brandy as it was mentioned in the recipe. The other half was for Hermione.

“It's not going to hurt anyone if I have a piece of the brandied cake,” she said as she joined him at the counter, unable to contain a sigh. “There's barely any alcohol on it anyway, as careful as you soak it.”

“Yeah, just drench it,” Jean threw in from her seat at the table with a smirk before she shifted her position, trying to get up. “Loo is second door to the left, right?”

“Mum! Doctor said to keep the weight off it–”

“Like your Healer said to take it easy, my dear?” Balancing on her good foot, Jean reached for the crutches leaning against the wall behind her. With an appeasing smile in her daughter's direction, she started to slowly move across the kitchen.

Watching her mother leave the kitchen, Hermione moved a strand out of her face, only to redo her lazy bun as she walked over to the fridge. “Let's see what kind of cheese we have left... OH!”

Hearing her gasp in surprised pain, Draco immediately dropped the knife he used to cut the cake slices and came over. “Everything okay?”

She simply nodded and reached for his hand to put it on her belly. “It just woke up.”

He couldn't contain a foolishly happy grin when he felt his unborn child kicking against the womb as if it wanted to say hello. After everything he had been through, he had never even hoped to find someone to share his life with, even less so that he would ever become a father.

In moments like this, he felt like the luckiest man alive.

“Feels like it wants to meet its daddy too,” Hermione whispered, still pressing his hand against her belly while she brushed over his cheek with her other hand before pulling him closer for a soft kiss.

“Honestly? Can't wait to hold it,” he replied as leaned in for another kiss. “And then we show the Potters how it's done.”

“Draco! Seriously!” Chuckling, she nudged his shoulder. “You're both idiots...”

“She's right, you know?” Jean said as she came back into the kitchen, grinning as she saw them on her way to the table. “By the way, have you chosen a name yet?”

Nodding, Draco returned to finish the slicing the cake to bring it over to the table. “She wants Rose for a girl, or Iris. Although I hope it's going to be a boy–”

“We're not naming it _Scorpius_ if it's a boy!” Hermione said with a mocked glare in his direction as she closed the fridge, the cheese on the edge of the counter next to it. “That's not a name. Titus or Edward are much better... Even Aurelius or Flavius. But not _Scorpius_.”

Draco wanted to retort something to her firm words about his choice of name, but then saw his mother-in-law shake her head discreetly. Instead, he reached for the cheese to prepare it as well for serving, shrugging at Hermione with a wink.

“My husband wanted to name you Cassius, if you had been a boy, you know?” Jean said as Hermione joined her at the table. “We were both great fans of Shakespeare when you were born, so we chose names from his works.”

“Ladies, enjoy.” Draco placed the cake and cheese on the table, making sure that the undrenched slices were in front of Hermione who immediately reached for one to have a bite. “I think this might be the start of a new tradition...”

“Hmm! This is delicious!”

“Couldn't have done it any better, that special brandy of yours is a great addition.” Jean added some cheese to her second bite of cake. “The second loaf will be perfect at Christmas.”

His own mouth full with fruit cake, Draco nodded, his cheeks blushing lightly when he saw Hermione look at him with adoration in her eyes. This afternoon, he felt more like a member of the Granger family than a Malfoy, a name that still haunted him enough.

They spent the rest of the afternoon discussing their plans for Christmas, but mostly the baby and the birth that made them both feel anxious but also excited about the future.

And yes, the second loaf turned out to be utter perfection and was devoured at the Granger Christmas in a short time despite exclamation from everyone in the greater Granger family that they were full to the brink.

Next year, he would make the fruit cake again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The fruit cake in the story is based on the following recipe:  
> [Brandied Fruit Cake](https://www.countrycleaver.com/2015/12/brandied-fruit-cake.html)  
> (it sounds damn delicious, tbh!)


End file.
